Heavily

How to spell heavily

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce heavily

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does heavily mean?

1. adverbTo a great degree, with great weight, force, or intensity.

Heavily in a sentence

• It rained heavily throughout the entire weekend.

• The company invested heavily in new equipment last year.

Where does heavily come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This adverb is built on the adjective 'heavy', which descends from the Old English hefig, meaning 'weighty' or 'burdensome'. That word came from the same Germanic root as the verb hebban, 'to lift' or 'to heave', so the original idea was literally something that takes effort to raise. Over the centuries the adjective broadened from sheer physical weight to figurative senses of intensity, abundance, and sorrow, as in a heavy heart or heavy rain. The adverb form simply adds the productive English suffix -ly, but because 'heavy' ends in a -y after a consonant, the spelling shifts that y to i, giving 'heavily'. This y-to-i swap before -ly is the small but reliable trap in the spelling, since the word is heard as if it might keep the y.

How the word is built

• heav- (from Old English hefig: weighty)
• -i- (y changed to i before suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)